The present invention relates to a motor with a speed-control inverter (hereinafter referred to as a motor with an inverter). The present invention is particularly suitable for a gear motor with an inverter having a gear for acceleration and deceleration.
An example of a gear motor with an inverter will now be described with reference to FIG. 1. In this drawing, a gear section 1 having a gear system for acceleration and deceleration, a motor 2, an inverter 3, a plurality of sensors 4 (only one sensor is shown in this drawing for simplicity), an amplifier 5, an A/D converter 6, a communication device 7, a controller 8 such as a PLC or the like, a server 9, power wiring 10, signal wiring 11, a real-time-system network 12, an information-system network, and an internet network 14 are shown. The gear section 1 is combined into the motor 2. The sensors 4 are mounted on the gear section 1. The sensors 4 obtain monitoring information on the gear section 1, such as information on the temperature of a lubricant applied for the gear system, the magnitude of vibration of the gear system, the pressure inside the gear system, and so forth. Then, the monitoring information is amplified by the amplifier 5. The signals of the monitoring information that had been amplified by the amplifier 5 are converted into digital values by the A/D converter 6 and are input to the communication device 7. The signal wiring 11 functions as a transmission path interconnecting the sensors 4, the amplifier 5, the A/D converter 6, and the communication device 7.
The communication device 7 transmits the monitoring information to the controller 8 via the real-time-system network 12. The controller 8 can be connected to the internet network 14 via the information-system network 13 and the server 9. The controller 8 transmits the monitoring information transmitted from the communication device 7 via the Internet. Therefore, a communication terminal at a distant location can monitor the gear section 1.
The inverter 3 is connected to the motor 2 via the power wiring 10. The inverter 3 is connected to a power supply (not shown) and is connected to the controller 8 via the real-time-system network 12. The inverter 3 controls the speed of the motor 2 according to a command transmitted from the controller 8.
The real-time-system network 12 is a field network for connecting the controller 8 to various kinds of terminal devices, and is suitable for transmitting data of relatively small capacity at high speed. A network such as a Device Net, Profibus, Interbus, and so on can be used as such a network. On the other hand, the information-system network 13 is a local area network (LAN) for interconnecting controllers and servers and is capable of handling data of relatively large capacity. A network that is called an Ethernet (a registered trademark) can be used as such a network.
Incidentally, the above-described gear motor with the inverter requires a communication device specifically designed to transmit information from the various sensors.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a gear motor with an inverter that eliminates the need for the communication device specifically designed to transmit information from the sensors thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a gear motor with an inverter that can collect and process information transmitted from the sensors thereof and can detect abnormal conditions.
A gear motor with an inverter according to the present invention includes a communication circuit for communicating with a high-order device and is combined with the inverter for performing speed control under the control of the high-order device. The gear motor is further combined with a gear section for acceleration and deceleration.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the gear motor with the inverter comprises at least one of sensor mounted on the gear section. The inverter comprises a control unit for collecting information from the at least one sensor and performing predetermined processing using the collected information. The control unit transmits at least one of the collected information and the processing result to the higher-order device via the communication circuit.
The present invention can also be applied to a motor with an inverter. Such a motor with the inverter includes a communication circuit for communicating with a higher-order device and is combined with the inverter for performing speed control under the control of the higher-order device.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the motor with the inverter is provided with at least one sensor that is used except for the speed control. The inverter comprises a control unit for collecting information from the at least one sensor and performing predetermined processing by using the collected information. The control unit transmits at least one of the collected information and the processing result to the higher-order device via the communication circuit.